Alabama hires Curry away from Texas Tech

From Special Reports

May 11, 2013 11:52:48 PM

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Kristy Curry has agreed to become the next head women's basketball coach at the University of Alabama. More information, including details on an introductory press conference, will be released at a later date.

"I am very excited to announce Kristy Curry will be the next women's basketball coach at the University of Alabama," Alabama Director of Athletics Bill Battle said. "When we began our search for a head coach, we sought a veteran head coach that had a proven record as a consistent winner. Coach Curry has produced an impressive record at Purdue and Texas Tech. We are thrilled that she has chosen to lead our program, and we are looking forward to welcoming Kristy, her husband Kelly, and their children, Kelsey and Kendall, to Tuscaloosa."

Curry, who just finished her seventh season as head coach at Texas Tech University, led the Lady Raiders to a 21-11 record last season and a No. 7 seed in the 2013 NCAA Championship. The tournament appearance was the second for her at Texas Tech and her ninth overall as a head coach. While in Lubbock, she compiled a record of 130-98 and had several all-Big 12 performers, including the 2010-11 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, Chynna Brown.

"I am honored and thrilled to be the next women's basketball coach at the University of Alabama," Curry said. "The Alabama program has tremendous potential and I am very excited to get the chance to lead the Crimson Tide back to national prominence. I want to thank the Alabama administration for the confidence they have shown in me, and for giving me this opportunity. We leave Texas Tech with heavy hearts. Kelly and I owe our deepest gratitude to so many people in the Red Raider family. We will always be grateful to the Texas Tech fans, the administration, the faculty and, most of all, our players."

Prior to her appointment at Texas Tech, Curry spent seven seasons at Purdue University, where she guided the Boilermakers to NCAA tournament appearances in each season, including the championship game in 2001. She became the second coach in NCAA history to lead her squad to the championship game in her second head as a head coach. Curry's overall record in West Lafayette, which includes six 20-plus win seasons, is 179-51.

Curry began her coaching career in the high school ranks before moving onto Tulane University, where she spent two seasons (1991-93). From there, she spent one year as an assistant at Stephen F. Austin University (1993-94), two at Texas A&M University (1994-96), and three at Louisiana Tech University (1996-99) before accepting her first head coaching position at Purdue.

Curry, a native of Olla, La., earned a bachelor's degree health and physical education from Northeast Louisiana in 1988, and a master's degree in education at Stephen F. Austin in 1994. She and her husband, Kelly, have two daughters, Kelsey and Kendall.